Cuomo Didn't Like Label of 'Liberal'

The late Mario Cuomo is being called a "liberal icon" (Time), a "liberal beacon" (the New York Times), and even a "liberal lion" (MSNBC), but in his appreciation at Capital New York, Terry Golway points out that Cuomo himself wasn't a big fan of the l-word:

• "Cuomo disdained the term 'liberal,' preferring to describe himself as a pragmatic progressive or a progressive pragmatist."

Golway writes that Cuomo's thinking shows up in lines like this one: “We believe in only the government we need, but we insist on all the government we need." Yes, the government had to provide jobs, Cuomo argued, but it also had to provide justice. It needed to be both compassionate and strong, to have both a "head and a heart," writes Golway. That was Cuomo: "Conservative. Liberal. Pragmatic progressive. Progressive pragmatist." Read his full post. (More Mario Cuomo stories.)